Fuel delivery problem caused by Sandy is driving New Jersey motorists across the line.

There was a strange scene Friday at Lehigh Valley gas stations — lots and lots of New Jersey plates.

Just ask Nate Anderson, manager at the strategically located Rudy's Car Wash and Gulf Mart in Palmer Township. At the meeting point of routes 22 and 248, the station had a line of cars that stretched into the road, and Anderson worried that he'd run out of gasoline — as he did the day before.

"It's ridiculous. People are coming from New Jersey or New York," Anderson said. "People drive 130 miles just to get here, just to get some gas."

Pennsylvanians on the eastern border have long known that it is cheaper to fill up across the Delaware River, given a lower gas tax in New Jersey. But with the destruction that Sandy dealt Monday, the trade had reversed, as Jersey stations slammed by the superstorm lacked fuel or the electricity to pump it.

The cross-state business jammed stations off major Lehigh Valley highways, while it remained easy and hassle-free to get gas just blocks away. In Bethlehem, city officials frustrated with bottlenecks at quick gas stops — near the Route 412 exit from Interstate 78, and Route 378 near the Hill-to-Hill Bridge — planned to post street signs instructing motorists that there were other options nearby.

"We do have other gas stations that are open and underutilized," said Tiffany Geklinsky, Bethlehem's traffic coordinator. "We're just trying to spread it out a little bit."

Other stations got creative on their own.

At US Petroleum at Bath Pike and Route 22, manager Murat Horuz said he was tired of the fights among stressed-out customers — many from New Jersey — and got permission from his boss to raise his prices. He was selling unleaded gas for $4.29 a gallon Friday, way beyond the state's $3.66 average, according to AAA.

And yet, the motorists kept coming to the station in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

"They don't care about the price, they want the gas," Horuz said.

After all, for those who made the commute, the prospect of a hefty bill — or a 10-minute wait — was easy compared with the alternative.

Back at Rudy's, Steven Maciek had come 60 miles from Perth Amboy in eastern New Jersey to fill up a few dozen gas cans that his roofing company planned to use to fill their trucks.

"We got lines about a mile, a mile and a half, and there's no gas in the gas station," he said of Jersey.

Behind him, workers from New Jersey American Water, a Voorhees-based utility, were also filling cans, citing waits of 90 minutes to two hours in their home state.

On Thursday, Rudy's sold 9,000 gallons of gas, which Anderson estimated would usually last 11/2 to two days. After 31/2 hours of business Friday, the station had 3,300 gallons left, after starting the day with 8,000.

US Petroleum also ran out of gas Thursday, and Horuz had to open an hour late Friday as he waited for a new delivery. He was worried about the next time he needs more fuel, saying his supplier told him it could take two to three days given logistical problems.

In the wake of the storm, Pennsylvania has moved to make it easier for truckers to move gasoline and other needed supplies.

On Friday, the Department of Transportation temporarily waived some commercial driving restrictions for those hauling motor fuel, heating oil and propane — as well as food, pharmaceuticals and agricultural feed. The changes allow truckers more hours on the road than otherwise permitted.

A spokeswoman for the regional AAA, Theresa Podguski, said it is unclear how power outages and blocked roads will affect the availability of gas in the Lehigh Valley.

"It's not that there's a gas shortage. There's plenty of gas in this part of the country," Podguski said. "What the issue is, there's a distribution problem."